Nothing Left To Burn
by emmikuu
Summary: One said no and the other stuck around. It wasn't much of a mental dilema of who she would choose.


She had spent so much of her time thinking about him. Truth be told, her mind was on the topic of him more often than not. Even her conversations with Jinora and Ikki were almost always about him.

Korra hated that.

Well she didn't really mind it before, but now… Now it just felt as though she wasted her time. How did they know that she might have liked him anyway? She wasn't that obvious, right?

_Take a chance,_ they told her,_ He'll realize it soon enough_.

And Korra did take a chance. She took the biggest one of all. Yes, she did admit her feelings. And then she got rejected. But, as they say, _no pain no gain_. So she tried again.

Korra kissed him.

She kissed Mako. It was absurd, sudden, brash, and she just kissed him.

Mako didn't kiss back.

_Of course_, she thought, of course he wouldn't kiss back because he has Asami and there was no reason for him to like her at all. Who was she? Who was she in his life? Korra pulled back, her brows furrowed and she turned and walked away.

"Korra, wait," she heard Mako call, and she lost her temper. She turned and snapped, "Look, Mako. That didn't happen, okay?" She paused to look for the right words, "I get it now. I get it." She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye, "You have Asami, and she's rich and great and pretty- I get it. Just forget this happened."

_That's not what I wanted to say_, Mako thought, but before he could voice anything, Korra turned once again, and this time she ran. Ran blindly to wherever she could because she didn't know what else to do. She had done what they told her to do. She confessed. Hell, she went above and beyond and she kissed him. Mako just didn't like her.

Her brows her pulled together and she was in a mad dash with her eyes on the ground. She never noticed a person carrying flowers walk in front of her. "Korra! Hey I was just looking-" was all she heard before she ran right into him. Pabu cleared out of the way and they fell with a loud _thud_. Korra sat up and looked down. What just happened?

"Ohh, ow, Korra! Are you okay?" she heard the person from underneath her ask. Who was this? All she saw was a bouquet of _very pretty_ pink flowers. But he sounded familiar. "Do I… know you?" she said, still a bit dazed from the fall. She got off of him and sat on the ground. "Korra, it's me, Bolin!" he said, sitting up and moving the flowers to the side. "Bolin! Didn't see you there!" Korra said, forcing a few laughs.

He may have been happy-go-lucky most of the time, but he knew Korra. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

_Crap_. "No," she answered much too quickly. Bolin gave her one of his looks, one that just said _are-you-seriously-kidding-me_. Well, she tried.

"It's really no big deal…" she said, rubbing the back of her head. He knew she was lying but he wouldn't push the issue. "Oh, before I forget. Korra, these are for you," he said, holding out the bouquet of flowers that she had forgotten about. When she didn't respond, Bolin sighed, took her hands and gave her the flowers. She wasn't sure when she began to smile, but he noticed and mentally pat himself on the back.

"I got those for you because I could tell you weren't feeling too hot after the match so… yeah" he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I hope you like them…?" Bolin awkwardly coughed and cleared his throat. Korra wasn't saying anything- just smiling and he was pretty sure that her response was a good thing but one could never really know-

"I love them, Bolin! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed before she threw her arms around his neck, crushing him in a hug. He goofily grinned for a few moments before he realized that he wasn't breathing. "K-Korra… need, need…. air…" he wheezed out. "Oh, sorry!" She quickly let go and let out a sheepish laugh.

They were still on the ground from the fall, but neither of them could really find it in themselves to care. Snow was falling outside, the flakes were stark white against the dark night sky. Korra's eyes glance around but they always managed to wander back to Bolin. "Thank you," she said, breaking the comfortable silence.

Bolin gave her a confused look, "For what?"

Korra paused and thought. There was just so much to thank him for…_For helping me forget about the pain that a heart can go through. For helping me smile. For making me laugh. For trying. For taking a chance on me_. "Thank you for noticing me," she finally said. And it went back to when they first met. If it weren't for him, she probably would not be playing on their pro-bending team. If it weren't for him, she would not know him or Mako. If it weren't for him, well she could safely say that she wouldn't be who she was then. It also applied to other things. He noticed her, he picked her to like. He called her one of a kind and nobody had ever done that before. Or at least, not in the way that hit home.

Bolin seemed to get the message when he gave her that knowing smile of his and said, "Anytime, Korra, anytime."

She smiled wide. How had she never noticed that he was there for her? Always there to listen and always there for support. How did she not notice that he liked her? That he saw so much more than she ever did in her? She would blame it on the task force being a distraction, and her aspiration of learning air-

Somebody cleared their throat loudly. Korra snapped her head up and looked around. A hand was held out in front of her. "Come on, Korra," Bolin's voice said - _when had he gotten up?_

Korra put her hand in his _(were her hands always so small compared to his?)_ and he pulled her up. "It's just Mako," he said. Mako took a step closer and nodded his head with a grunt in greeting. How long had he been there? The only way back into the building was through here so either Mako stayed on the roof for a very long time, or he had been waiting around for a while. She knew he wasn't stupid so,_ oh, awkward_. But there was no reason for it to be. There was nothing between them and nothing had happened earlier on the roof. _Nothing at all._

"Hey Mako," she casually greeted with a smile on her face. Mako looked at her strangely- didn't he just upset her? _Girls, he'd never understand them_. Bolin looked in between the two with a gleam of worry in his eye. Was he missing something?

Mako realized he was just staring and opened his mouth to speak when-

"Korra!" Bolin called out, breaking the staring contest. Korra blinked a few times and turned to Bolin, giving him a quizzical look. "So… can we do that again tomorrow? Have a date, I mean… I promise _you won't regret it_," he asked and pleaded with hopeful eyes.

A bright smile broke onto her face and she nodded her head, "Sure thing!" Mako glared between the two, unamused. Bolin cheered loudly.

She quickly glanced out of the window- it was getting late. "Bolin, I'll see you tomorrow okay?" she said as she turned to walk down the hall, "I'll see you too, Mako. Night guys!"

"Night Korra," they called back in unison after her retreating form.

Mako did not approve, not at all, but he let everything go with a sigh. _Whatever_, as long as Bolin was happy in the end.

As soon as she got to the first floor, she realized a carefree smile was plastered onto her face. When was the last time she'd felt so… great? Just earlier that day, actually, with Bolin. Korra bit her bottom lip at that thought.

Yes, Korra was sure that she wouldn't regret giving Bolin a chance.


End file.
